Rare Easterly Winds over the Indian Ocean

Climate Prediction Centre of the US National Weather Service has said that unusually warm waters in the Arabian Sea have set up a rare band of easterly winds over the Indian Ocean, which has significantly delayed the monsoon onset over the Kerala coast.

The number of factors has led to a dry spell in India, which is likely to continue throughout June.

Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO): Its location and strength may play an important role in the development of monsoon over India during the next several weeks.

Cyclone ‘Vayu’: It took advantage of an MJO wave traversing the West Indian Ocean and adjoining South Arabian Sea.

Storm initiation: Over the East Indian Ocean and adjoining Bay of Bengal have led to oceanic circulation over North-East and adjoining East-Central Bay.

Madden-Julian Oscillation

It is an oceanic-atmospheric phenomenon which affects weather activities across the globe. It brings major fluctuation in tropical weather on weekly to monthly timescales.

The MJO can be defined as an eastward moving ‘pulse’ of clouds, rainfall, winds and pressure near the equator that typically recurs every 30 to 60 days.

It’s a traversing phenomenon and is most prominent over the Indian and Pacific Oceans